Guan Eng defends ‘real Malaysians’ remark

By Yow Hong Chieh
December 21, 2010
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has denied questioning the citizenship of any Malaysians in his speech at the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) convention, as claimed by Umno politicians and its newspaper Utusan Malaysia.

Lim implied that his remarks were taken out of context, adding he had merely stressed that real Malaysians were ordinary, peace-loving people who upheld the principles of justice, truth and freedom, and placed importance on economic rights and a brighter future.

“It is clear that Utusan Malaysia and Penang Umno leaders like Dr Novandri Hasan Bari are once again… spreading lies by claiming that the Chief Minister wants to question the citizenship of Malaysians,” Lim’s office said in a short press statement.
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Funeral fit for a king

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor

On December 16th, about 10 DAP members attended Fan Yew Teng’s funeral, which was held at the Church of the Redeemer in Bangkok.  Sdr  Lim Kit Siang, Sdr Fong Kui Lun, Sdr Lee Kow and Dr Chen represented the DAP.  Five other, members from Selangor drove all the way from KL to Bangkok for the funeral.
 
There was also a second service, this time in a Buddhist Wat.  Fan Yew Teng found the chants, prayers and psalms very soothing when situations were stressful. He requested for buddhist rites, according to his wife, this service was well attended.
 
At both services, there were crowds of people. Among those present were Thais and members of the diplomatic corps representing countries of the world. You could say that  Sdr Fan Yew Teng had a funeral fit for a king.
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Selamatkan Impian Bapa Kemerdekaan

By Zairil Khir Johari

Ubah sekarang, selamatkan Malaysia!

Empat patah perkataan yang secara ringkasnya mengungkapkan segala belenggu sosial, kepincangan ekonomi dan kemelut politik yang sedang melanda negara kita pada hari ini.

Apakah yang telah terjadi? Bagaimanakah kita boleh sampai ke tahap yang parah ini? Tanah air kita sudah tenat, dan kini terpaksa diselamatkan. Kemanakah perginya impian tokoh-tokoh pengasas negara kita, seperti Al-Marhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, yang telah bermimpikan sebuah negara yang maju ekonominya, demokratik institusinya dan bersatu padu masyarakatnya. Tetapi alangkah malangnya pada hari ini, setelah 53 tahun pemerintahan Barisan Nasional, segala impian dan harapan Bapa Kemerdekaan bukan sekadar tidak tercapai malah sudah hancur terkecai.

Inilah hasil satu pemerintahan yang berlandaskan formula ‘pecah dan perintah’, di mana rakyat marhaen dipecah-belahkan dan kemudian diperintah secara berasingan oleh golongan elit daripada UMNO (untuk orang Melayu), MCA (untuk orang Cina), MIC (untuk orang India) dan sebagainya. Tiada bezanya dengan sistem yang dipraktikkan oleh penjajah British.
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Why is Malaysia experiencing a brain drain?

by Evelyn Wong, Guest Contributor
New Mandala
December 20th, 2010

In the past six months, there’s been a surge of local interest in the trend of brain drain in Malaysia. Out of a population of 27 million, there are an estimated 1.5 million Malaysians living abroad. Many of these Malaysians are skilled workers who emigrated to Singapore and OECD countries such as Australia, UK, and US. In response to this, the government has set up the Talent Corporation under the 10th Malaysia Plan to attract and retain highly-skilled human capital. Operating under the Prime Minister’s Department, Talent Corp will commence operations in January 2011.

While this is a promising step towards ameliorating the problem, the causes of brain drain are complex and deeply-entrenched in other aspects of Malaysian society. Continue reading “Why is Malaysia experiencing a brain drain?”